Last Beautiful Girl Read online

  “Ah, you beat me here,” Jake said as he walked up the driveway. “Usually I’m the first guy on site. I appreciate your eagerness to get started. I knew you were going to be the right guy for the job.”

  Kyle didn’t even smile at the compliment.

  “So, what are your thoughts?”

  “I think Sydney should have her head examined,” he said honestly. “This place needs to be demolished. The money the church has raised would go further in buying her a new place than fixing up this one.”

  Beside him, Jake nodded and sipped his coffee out of his travel mug. “Be that as it may, our job is to fix this place up. If you’re already overwhelmed, I’m sure I can find…”

  “No,” he said begrudgingly. “I just…I wasn’t prepared for this much of a shit show, that’s all.”

  “It’s going to take a lot of work, but we’re going to make it right.” He paused and took another sip of coffee. “Where do you want to start?”

  “Honestly? Those front steps. I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking up and down them with tools and supplies the way they are.”

  Nodding, Jake said, “I agree. There’s a second set of stairs off the back deck so they can still come and go, but yeah, these front ones should be our first priority. They don’t need to be stained or painted right away; just get them built and inspected as soon as possible.”

  “Done.”

  “You ready to go inside or do you want to walk around out here a little more?”

  What he wanted was to run and say he’d made a mistake, but pride wouldn’t allow that. “It’s early yet. Are you sure…uh…Sydney won’t mind us being here so early?”

  “She’s expecting us,” Jake replied. “But maybe we should walk around out here a little more.”

  With his iPad in his hands, he took notes as they walked around. As expected, the siding was all going to go, as well as the roof. They talked about replacing windows and the garage doors. Once they walked around back, he relaxed. At least there was one part of the property that wasn’t in total disrepair.

  “Daren built the deck in the Spring,” Jake explained. “He had the property cleared and sodded so his daughter would have a space to play.” He paused and shook his head. “Damn. I can’t even imagine. Especially now…”

  Yeah, Jake and his wife were new parents and Kyle knew this situation had to be hitting a little close to home.

  “Anyway,” he went on after a moment, “he also put up new siding on the back of the house and installed the sliding doors out to the deck and the stairs down to the patio so…it’s something.”

  Jake’s phone rang and he stepped away to take the call. The morning air was a little crisp, and Kyle wished he had thought to grab a cup of coffee for himself. He studied the yard a little more until he heard a sound coming from the house. Looking up toward the deck, he saw the door slide open and someone step out.

  He froze as he watched a familiar blonde walk out onto the deck. She didn’t come to the railing, but she came far enough that he could see her.

  With her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, she stretched, and he noticed the baby pink tank top she was wearing—clearly with no bra underneath—and he knew he was staring like a creep.

  Then she did walk over to the railing and looked down.

  Wide eyes stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights.

  Shit.

  She looked like she was about to say something and then noticed Jake a few feet away. Obviously, she figured out they were here together and he wasn’t some…well…creep who was spying on her from the yard.

  Awesome.

  Without a word, she turned and walked back into the house, slamming the sliding door closed behind her.

  “Well, that was pretty much the reaction I expected,” he murmured.

  “You say something?” Jake asked as he walked back over, sliding his phone into his pocket.

  “Uh, yeah. Sydney just came out on the deck and saw me. Then she stormed back inside without a word.”

  Chuckling, Jake said, “You probably just caught her by surprise. Don’t take it personally.”

  “Really?” he deadpanned, knowing he should take it personally.

  They finished walking around the house while Kyle took notes before walking up the front steps and knocking on the door.

  The woman who opened it was even more stunning up close.

  And looked exactly like she had at eighteen.

  Her eyes were blue—and not your average blue, but more vibrant, like a sapphire—and her skin was lightly tanned. He had to fight the urge to reach out and touch her because he wanted to know if she was still as soft as he remembered.

  Kyle loved women—all women. He never went shy or quiet around a beautiful girl. But he’d never felt so damn out of his element as he did right at this moment. Sydney Albright was the woman against whom he measured all others. At one time, she had been his past, his present, his everything. She was the first beautiful girl he’d ever really and truly loved.

  And the last.

  Their breakup had left him reeling and his confidence shattered, and he hadn’t been the same since.

  Not that he didn’t love his life now—he loved the freedom he had and enjoyed the single life immensely. But if things had been different a dozen or so years ago, he might be standing on the other side of that door right now, welcoming Jake and his foreman in.

  Shaking that thought off, Kyle visibly shuddered and then forced himself to smile as he wished her a good morning. Part of him wondered if she remembered him or if maybe he was the only one feeling awkward right now.

  Sydney’s gaze narrowed at him a bit before she turned her attention to Jake and he definitely had his answer.

  And it was personal.

  Then she smiled—at Jake, not at him. “Hey, Jake,” she said softly. “Come on in.”

  Stepping into the house, Kyle made it all of three feet before he simply stopped and stared. “What the…?”

  “Yeah, I know,” she said with a small sigh. “Apparently the house was damaged during Hurricane Amelia and the previous owners did the bare minimum to make it sellable—they got rid of the mold and the worst of the water damage. When my sister and brother-in-law bought the house, they knew they were going to have to basically get the place down to the studs and start from there. Unfortunately, Daren made the yard the priority before he started in here.”

  “I’m sure he just wanted a place where Haley could play while the work was going on,” Jake commented.

  Sydney nodded. “That was the idea.” She paused. “Honestly, I think they bit off more than they could chew. There was so much to do and Daren had hoped to do a lot of it himself. But both he and Tracy worked and this became a weekend project. And then…” Her words trailed off, but they all knew what she was referencing.

  And for some reason, Kyle felt like he had to ask, “Why not sell the place?”

  Both Jake and Sydney looked at him with wide eyes.

  “Kyle!” Jake hissed.

  “No, it’s okay,” Sydney quickly corrected. Then she aimed those sapphire eyes at him. “This home was my sister’s. This was where she wanted to raise her daughter. And my niece…well…she’s already lost the two most important people in the world. She doesn’t need to be uprooted. She doesn’t need to lose the last connection she has to her parents. And if that means I have to live in a construction zone and see work done on a house that I wouldn’t normally choose to live in, then so be it. It’s a small price to pay for a young girl who didn’t deserve to have to face the rest of her life without her mother and father.”

  Gently clearing his throat, all Kyle could do was nod.

  After that, he took a backseat and simply let Jake do all the talking.

  An hour later, he felt like there was way too much work for one guy to handle, and when he and Jake were back outside—alone—and standing by his truck, he told him so.

  “For starters, you’re not the only guy work
ing here. Most of the time, yes. But when we’re ready to tackle the siding, the roof, and things like that, I’ll have guys here to help you.” He glanced at his watch and frowned. “Today, I need you to place the orders on the materials you’re going to need for all the interior work—drywall, mud, paint, the basics. Schedule it all to be delivered tomorrow and we can store it all in the garage. Get all the material you’re going to need for these front steps. You think you can do them alone or do you want me to send someone over to help?”

  “If you have a guy to spare, I’ll take him. Demo will go smoother with a second guy.”

  Jake nodded. “You got it. I’ll have someone here after lunch. And I’ll get a dumpster sent over for tomorrow. Just try to keep the debris contained, okay?”

  “Got it.”

  Turning to walk away, Jake added, “Call if there’s anything you need and uh…do me a favor?”

  “Sure.”

  “Think before you speak to Sydney again.” It wasn’t often his boss—or anyone—had to reprimand him, but in this instance, Kyle knew he deserved it.

  “Yeah, I know. Sorry about that.”

  “You sure you’re going to be able to handle this? Working with Sydney?”

  Did he?

  “Yeah,” he said gruffly after a moment of contemplation. “We’re both adults and what happened between us is ancient history. You’re not going to have to worry about me, Jake. I give you my word.”

  With a curt nod, Jake commented, “For what it’s worth, I understood why you were asking what you did. But try to remember all this family has been through. That’s all.”

  “Don’t worry. It won’t happen again.”

  “Alright then. Call me if you need anything.” And then he walked up the rest of the driveway and climbed into his truck.

  Kyle turned and stared at the house and he wished he had some of the big equipment with him to simply knock the stairs down in a matter of minutes. Even with another guy helping him, it was going to take a little time and he was more than anxious to get started.

  “No time like the present,” he muttered. After getting his tape measure, he took it and his tablet over to the front steps to take his measurements and then plug them into the program to determine how much he was going to need in materials. It took several minutes and once he was at the top of the stairs and looking down, he got a good look at the front porch. It seemed crazy to build new stairs when the entire front porch needed some work so he figured he’d measure things up and add that to today’s plan.

  After plugging in all the numbers, he straightened and did his best to be conservative on what needed to be replaced and what he could salvage. There was no need to spend money where it wasn’t needed and he wanted Jake to see that he could be trusted to run a job and stay within the budget. Behind him, he heard the front door open and turned.

  “Oh, uh…hey,” he said quietly, almost afraid to make eye contact.

  Sydney stepped out, partially closing the door behind her, and he wondered where her niece was. Was the kid really old enough to be left alone in the house like this?

  Do not even think about asking her if that’s what she did.

  “I saw you out here measuring,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “I didn’t think we were doing the porch.”

  He clipped the tape measure onto his front pocket. “It wasn’t in the plan, but there are quite a few rotten pieces of wood and I think we can replace those and make sure everything else is tightened up and reinforced. No need to go putting a brand-new staircase up to a porch that is in disrepair, right?”

  She nodded, studying him hard.

  They stood in silence for a minute. “Was there anything else you wanted to know?” he asked carefully, respectfully. “I need to get to the lumber yard and place some orders. I’ll be back in a couple of hours to get started on the steps.”

  “Uh, no. Like I said, I saw you measuring and was just curious.” With a small nod, she turned and walked back into the house, but not before Kyle noticed how weary she looked and how curvy her body still was.

  With a groan, he stalked down the steps and up to his truck, all the while reminding himself not to talk to her unless absolutely necessary. And definitely not look at her because he had a feeling that both his eyes and his mouth were going to get him into nothing but trouble where Sydney Albright was concerned.

  And there was no way he could let that happen.

  Again.

  Everyone knew how much he loved to chase after a beautiful woman, but this particular beautiful woman was completely off-limits. Kyle wasn’t looking for a commitment or to visit the past, and he certainly wasn’t looking for an instant family.

  And if he could just remember that and keep his focus on the monumental amount of work that needed to be done on the house, he knew he’d be just fine.

  With her back pressed against the front door, Sydney let out a long breath.

  He didn’t recognize her.

  And she wasn’t sure if she was thankful or pissed off.

  Back in school, Kyle Jones had been her entire world. Their relationship started when she was a junior in high school and he was a senior. She immediately imagined them getting married, having babies, and living happily ever after.

  And it was something she had tried to forget.

  Kyle was a jock—your typical big man on campus type—whereas she was more studious and part of the theater group. In her junior year of high school, she played Tinker Bell in the production of Peter Pan. And because of her petite size and her short hair at the time, people had taken to calling her Pixie.

  And not always in a cute way.

  She remembered being at a party one weekend when a group of obnoxious players from the football team practically taunted her with that damn nickname until she was forced to leave.

  And Kyle was part of that group.

  But he was the only one to follow her outside and apologize.

  And kiss her.

  She went home and he went back to the party, and it left her more confused than anything. She had agonized over that night and when she’d gone to school the following Monday, anytime she saw any of the ballplayers or their friends, they would wolf-whistle at her and call her Pixie.

  Dumb jocks…

  Kyle had put a stop to it less than a week later and asked her out. He still used to use the silly nickname on her, but it became more of an endearment than a tease. Just thinking about it now—remembering when everything was new with them—made her tingle.

  The sound of shuffling feet coming down the hall had her straightening. Haley peeked out around the corner and eyed her cautiously. “I thought I heard voices.”

  “Oh, uh…yeah. The contractors were here taking measurements and they’re going to start working today.”

  “Oh,” Haley said sadly. “I thought…I mean…it sounded like...” She quickly turned away so Sydney couldn’t see her face. It broke her heart because she had a feeling she was looking around and waiting to see if Tracy or Daren were here, and she wished more than anything that she could make that happen for her.

  “Hey,” Sydney said, smiling as she walked over to Haley. “I feel like I need waffles as big as my head. You in?”

  Nodding, Haley asked, “With chocolate chips?”

  “Definitely.” The more carbs and chocolate, the better. “Do we have any whipped cream?”

  “I’m not sure. Grandma cleaned out the fridge and got rid of most of the good stuff.”

  And she didn’t sound happy about it.

  While Sydney lived in Boston, she didn’t get to visit her sister as much as she should have. And most of her interactions with Haley had been during the holidays. But she and Tracy used to talk several times a week and she used to marvel at how fun and outgoing her daughter was.

  So far, Sydney hadn’t seen it.

  Even though she knew Haley was old enough to understand what had happened, it was clear she was traumatized. Her next order of business now t
hat the work on the house was starting was to look into counseling for her.

  And she should probably look into some for herself too.

  Together, they made breakfast, and when they sat down at the table, Sydney knew the best thing for them was to start doing things Haley usually did.

  And she prayed she wasn’t making a mistake.

  “So, what should we do today?” It was their first full day alone together without her parents being there as buffers, and it was time for the two of them to start settling into a routine. School didn’t start for another month, but there had to be something for them to do.

  Surely I can handle finding stuff for us to do for a month, right?

  Without her own mother here to guide her, she wasn’t sure where to even start, then she remembered finding Tracy’s day planner and how there were gymnastic classes at the local YMCA that Haley joined at the beginning of the summer. Maybe it was time to get back to them. Feeling good about her decision, she went in search of where she put the planner and then quickly found that they could make one today.

  Yes!

  “So I was thinking,” she began cautiously, “How would you feel about going to the Y today? You know, get back to the gymnastics classes.”

  At first Haley looked at her oddly, but then a small smile played at her lips. “Is that…I mean…would that be okay?”

  Relief washed over her and she couldn’t help but reach over and hug her. “Are you kidding me? I think it would be totally awesome!”

  She still didn’t look entirely convinced. “I guess it would be fun…”

  In no time, they were cleaning up the breakfast dishes and getting ready to go. By the time they were in the car and pulling out of the driveway, Sydney was feeling more than a little optimistic. Maybe after gymnastics, they could go to the library and get some books and then grab an early lunch and have a picnic at the beach! So many ideas came to mind and for the first time in a while, she felt good. Happy. Confident that she could handle being Haley’s…guardian. There was no way she could make herself think that she was her mom because…she wasn’t. She couldn’t. She was Aunt Sydney and that was more than okay with her.